The Structure and Habits of Spiders. 43 



It is a common habit with spiders to draw 

 out a thread behind as they walk along ; and in 

 this way they make the great quantities of 

 threads that sometimes cover a field of grass, or 

 the side of a house. We often see the points 

 of all the pickets of a fence connected by 

 threads spun in this way by spiders running 

 down one picket, and up the next, for no appar- 

 ent purpose. 



Spiders often descend by letting out the 

 thread to which they hang ; and are able to 

 control their speed, and to stop the flow of 

 thread, at will. They sometimes hang down by 

 a thread, and allow themselves to be swung 

 by the wind to a considerable distance, letting 

 out the thread when they feel they are going 

 in the right direction. 



Spiders in confinement begin at once to spin, 

 and never seem comfortable till they can go all 

 over their box without stepping off their web. 

 The running spiders, that .make no other webs, 

 when about to lay their eggs, find or dig out 

 holes in sheltered places, and line them with 

 silk. Species that live under stones or on 

 plants all line their customary hiding-places 



